Planes from Keflavik in Iceland, Copenhagen, Faro in Portugal, Barcelona and Southampton landed at John Lennon Airport in Liverpool between noon and 12.20pm while a police helicopter investigated the report of the sighting.

Passengers on the Flybe flight from Southampton and some on the Copenhagen plane were taken to Manchester by coach.

After 20 minutes, no drone could be found and services returned to normal shortly before midday.

Runway two was opened to help clear the backlog but airline passengers were warned to expect residual delays.

“Due to a report of a potential drone sighting in airspace near to the airport, some flights have experienced short delays and a small number of flights have diverted to alternative airports whilst Greater Manchester Police carried out an investigation using their police helicopter.

"Upon inspection, nothing was found.

"As the safety and security of all of our passengers is paramount, operations on Runway One were suspended for 20 minutes.

"Runway Two, which was unaffected, will remain open for an hour so normal traffic flows can resume.”

A drone is an unmanned aircraft which, when used for recreation or to survey an area from the sky, is usually directed via remote control from the ground.